Sort of a Sewing Failure

When I am taking Elizabeth to her various activities I usually bring along handwork or a book to occupy myself. Lately I have been working on crochet and decided I needed a pouch for my crochet hooks. However, I decided to "make it up as you go" and my pouch didn't come out as I had pictured.
The outside of the pouch came out fine, I used a crazy quilt design that I like a lot.
I quilted the block to batting so the pouch would have body but it wasn't as sturdy as I had hoped.
The inside turned out pretty good except I made the pouch too tall.

My favorite part of the pouch is this small pocket I added for my tapestry needle and hairpin.

I plan to make a second pouch but this time I will add a flap to keep the hooks in place, use a stiff interfacing instead of batting and make it shorter. I'm thinking this pouch may hold knitting needles so it may not be a complete failure.

Our Weekend Trip

Jonathan applied for and got a summer internship so the kids and I went to Dallas this weekend to find a place for him to live. We left Friday evening and spent the night in Abilene. Normally we stay at Motel 6 when traveling but we wanted something different this time. We stayed at Whitten Inn; it was such a nice place!Saturday morning we ate their complimentary breakfast and it wasn't coffee and donuts.... instead they had a nice breakfast bar!

Guest could make their own waffles;

Or choose cereal.

Also available were muffins, biscuits and gravy, boiled eggs, fruit and toast, and assorted milks and juices.

Everything tasted so good; it was like eating at a restaurant.

Before leaving Abilene we stopped by Abilene Christian College. The campus is the prettiest campus I have ever seen!

I loved this rock garden and small pool.

There were steps you could climb;

And scriptures chiseled into several large rocks. I loved this little "oasis", it was so charming!

Once in Dallas we met with a very nice man who will be renting a room to Jonathan for the summer. When our meeting was over we headed for Kemp to visit an Amish store; Pennsylvania Dutch foods.

We had kolaches there a couple of years go and had to have them again!

After shopping the Amish store we headed back to Dallas to visit the American Girl Doll Store.

The store was just as nice as our first visit. Elizabeth wanted to eat in their cafe but we didn't have reservations.

While visiting the "little girls room" we spotted this on the stall wall...it's to hold your doll.

We wanted to buy several things but the outfits were too expensive. We ended up just buying several pairs of doll shoes and some cute hangers.

On our way to and from Dallas we saw miles and miles of beautiful blue bonnets; they were spectacular!

Wildflowers covered both sides of the interstate; there were so many lovely colors everywhere you looked.

While I was loading our trip photos into the computer I discovered several pictures taken by Elizabeth. Apparently she was entertaining herself with my camera while I was driving. I used to put Bugles on my fingers when I was young too!

Our trip was a great success but it always feels good to be home.

Apples and Pears

Two years ago I made Elizabeth a summer capri outfit. She loved it and wore it until the pants were too tight around the waist. Recently she asked me to make another outfit and this is what I came up with.

Elizabeth is happy to have another outfit with the "Apples and Pears" fabric she likes so well. I love how you can take winter jeans that are too short and turn them into summer pants!

Passing on Memories

When I was growing up I loved reading Highlights.

My favorite part of the magazine was reading about "The Timbertoes"; I always liked the name Tommy Timbertoe.

When Jonathan was younger I used to be able to buy older issues of Highlights at the Goodwill for 10-cents each; but not any more.

After an Internet search I found a nice stack of older Highlights on e-bay and now Elizabeth is enjoying them too!

A Morning Walk

With all the rain we have had water is sitting everywhere.I especially like how it collected in this old tank; Elizabeth wanted to play in it but I had to say "no", it's just too chilly.

I love this big old Mulberry tree;

It is loaded with berries!

Flowers are popping up everywhere.

Our flock of roosters are getting a slow start this year but now that they are in the larger portable pen they seem to be doing better.

This bush sits next to the windmill and old well house. At one point I thought it was going to die but this year I am amazed at how well it is doing.

The bush has the prettiest flowers.

One of our setting hens has hatched some chicks.

This is Boots! Every time we go to the chicken yard she comes along.

Out in the garden our carrots are finally growing! We had to re-plant them and I was afraid we wouldn't have any this year.

We planted lettuce in a nice even row and when it began coming up we noticed it scattered here and there; it seems the wind scattered some of the seeds. I'm not complaining...I'm just watching where I walk and hoe while in the garden.

Our onions are doing very well and makes me wish I liked green onions. When I was growing up my mom always cooked green onions in eggs for breakfast. Jonathan is the only one of us who likes green onions.

This year we managed to plant our potatoes early; they are doing very well.

Our radishes are now up; we had to plant these a second time like the carrots. The first radishes died for some unknown reason.

If everything continues to flourish out in the garden I think we may be eating fresh salad very soon.

Popovers

I have always wanted to try popovers but never got around to making them until this morning. They were nothing like I expected; I followed the recipe exactly and was surprised they came out of the oven a little over cooked.

The texture was fine but the flavor was bland. Oh well, my chickens will love them.

Homemade Strawberry Syrup

We have had some wonderful rain the past couple of days which has produced cool temperatures. Add to this 2-gallon size bags of sliced frozen strawberries and you have the makings of a wonderful day in the kitchen.


First on my list....strawberry jelly! I love strawberry jelly but I do not like biting into a berry; instead I prefer the jelly to be smooth. In the past I would mash the berries with a potato masher but this time I put the berries in my food processor; it worked perfectly!

While cooking the jelly I got to thinking how the pureed berries made me think of syrup. I love strawberry syrup! A quick Internet search produced....NOTHING!!!!! Well, nothing that sounded like normal syrup to me. So, I decided I would try making up my own recipe......My oh my was it ever a success! I doubled the Sure-Jell recipe used for making the jelly and only added one pouch of powdered pectin to the recipe. I cooked it just like jelly and the end result was a perfect thick wonderful tasting strawberry syrup!

When my day in the kitchen was over I had 7-jars (8 oz size) of jelly and 6-pints of syrup. All the canning has me excited about the upcoming canning season.

Umm Umm Good

While surfing the web I stumbled across a new blog with lots of home cooked goodness. The first recipe I tried was for chicken strips.These were so good; we ate them dipped in gravy. Here is a link to the recipe; Mommy's Kitchen; I am looking forward to trying more recipes in the near future.

In The Orchard

Out in the orchard spring has arrived.

Sadly a late freeze killed some of the fruit; thankfully it was mild and not all the fruit was damaged.

With our very moist winter everything is looking good but we are now having to begin watering.

With the temporary fence keeping the chickens out the grass and weeds are now growing.

I am hoping the ground will recover quickly so we can let the chickens back in; they are really missing all the extra space to roam in.